Vision vs. planning

If you can’t take multiple trips, you better have an efficient route mapped out. (Library of Congress)

Years ago, I recorded an album of original songs in my parents’ basement in the space of about two weeks.

I played all of the instruments, engineered and mixed all of the music, and even designed the cover and insert.

There was a hard deadline: I was moving to California, and I wanted to get the thing done before then, so I did.

This has not tended to be my track record on big projects like this. I have a tendency to daydream and get lost in ideation. Historically, I start, and don’t finish. After a few weeks or months, I change my mind and do something else.

I’ve begun to recognize this pattern and change my ways. I’ve corrected it with planning. These days, if I undertake something big, I make a plan and follow through.

Why, then, was I able to record this album without a plan. Was it just youth and a willingness to stay up until the wee hours?

I believe that it was vision and focus. Because I had an extremely clear vision and nothing else going on, I was able to put all of my energy and attention into making the record. Every step suggested the next one, and I proceeded efficiently without dithering or second-guessing.

I had such a strong sense of what I wanted the end result to be that I was able to get there on time and under budget. Though the album has not held up as some kind of masterpiece, it was my very best work, and creating it was a fantastic learning experience.

There’s no way I could do all of that today. Good for you if you’re still able to recapture the vigor of your youth (or young enough that you still have it). But for my part, I am no longer willing launch myself into something unless I have a robust plan to back up the powerful vision. Without the plan, it only works if it works. The cost of all of that wasted effort is too high. And I’m not willing to stay up all night and push through.

It’s the difference between reading a book all in one sitting and spreading it out over multiple days and weeks. You may well have the luxury of sitting down and reading the book all the way through. But if you have other obligations, as most of us do, you need a bookmark to remind you where you were when you come back.

So it is with the plan. The plan acts as a kind of bookmark so that I can pick up where I left off even if I’m not in a wild cycle of continuous creation. It allows me to make the most of the time and resources I do have.

Many very successful people are able to get by solely on a strong vision for quite some time. They begin to falter when life gets busy. Perhaps they lose the collaborators who handled the logistics, or they take on something that stretches their belief in their own ability. At that point, it’s important to recognize that it’s time to switch from operating solely or mostly based on vision and to ramp up the planning.

The idea of pursuing a project with confidence and single-minded determination is romantic and aspirational in a cinematic kind of way. Everyone is betting against the down-on-her-luck hero, and then, despite the obstacles constantly being hurled in her direction, she’s able to come through in a way that no one imagined.

But in real life, there are kids to pick up from school and thank-you notes to write. A project that depends on sheer inspiration is a project that’s not going to get done. The solution is good planning, dynamic and realistic, and it’s available to all of us.